Born in 1992, Liu began snowboarding when she was 11. She has six World Cup titles to her name and won the halfpipe competition at the FIS Snowboarding World Championships in 2009.

To the snowboarding veteran, participating in the event means more than just pursuing a medal. "Snowboarding is a really cool sport. If we achieve good scores, the sport can gain more attention, which will promote its development and contribute to making it more popular among regular people," Liu told The Paper.

In the halfpipe event, competitors start from the top of a 6.7-metre high halfpipe and rack up scores based on five criteria: amplitude, difficulty, variety, execution and progression.

Chi Dehua
has been a staff editor at GBTIMES since 2013. She covers foreign affairs, business and culture.